Why South Africa's Ronwen Williams is just the man for the job in a penalty shoot-out

[p]The 34-year-old goalkeeper, also captain of the ‌side, has built his reputation on penalty saves and made some key stops to ‌help both club and country.[/p][p]He could be a key factor ‌if the opening last-32 tie against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/canada/x4toKORL/"]Canada[/a] in Los Angeles on Sunday goes ‌to penalties following a stalemate at the end of extra time.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/williams-ronwen/lQRX0UzA/"]Williams[/a] ‌saved four penalties in a single shootout in 2024 against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/cape-verde/MocyWdm7/"]Cape Verde[/a] in the Africa Cup of Nations quarter-final in a dramatic one-man show that helped ‌earn him the tournament's best goalkeeper award and ⁠a nomination later that year at ‌the Ballon d'Or awards.[/p][p]He did it again in the third-place playoff match as [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/south-africa/W2ijYvlr/"]​South Africa[/a] won bronze by beating the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/czech-republic/6LHwBDGU/"]Democratic Republic of Congo[/a] on penalties, with Williams pulling off two acrobatic stops.[/p][embed guid="15ece008-867c-4cc9-bbd5-6e578fc5dc99" url="https://x.com/BafanaBafana/status/2070556082670625231?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p]Only ​last month, at the African Champions League final, Williams stopped a late penalty to ensure that his club [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/mamelodi-sundowns/lxZ6Bzh6/"]Mamelodi Sundowns[/a] became continental champions.[/p][p]He ⁠also has a winning ​record in post-match shootouts in South African domestic football.[/p][p][b]"You need to be a student of the game, that's what I've learnt over the years,"[/b] said Williams, who credits regular homework on penalty-kick takers for his success. ‌He also gets a lot of help from team analysts.[/p][p][b]"They send me so many clips, my phone is full. It's not easy to get footage of some of the players because they play all over the world."[/b][/p][p]Ahead of a player taking a penalty against him, Williams usually indulges in some trash talking. [b]"You just try to mess with their mind a bit and make them indecisive," [/b]he said.[/p][embed guid="9bea6379-5bb8-4e32-bcb1-1d63f0b765b5" url="https://x.com/BafanaBafana/status/2070442657650737284?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p]Moving up and down the goal line and waving his arms is another attempt ‌at distraction.[/p][p][b]"Players know that we are studying them as well. The goal ​is so big that players are supposed to score, so ‌we have to do everything we can to make it seem smaller,"[/b] he added.[/p][p][b]Williams also draws inspiration before facing each penalty as he looks to the heavens. His brother Marvin died in a car crash when Williams was 18. "Sometimes I ask him to ⁠take control and show me ⁠which way to go. He's ‌like my guardian angel,"[/b] he said.[/p]